Such an armor plate may be a metal plate, thereby providing armor which is cheap because the plate is itself low cost and is capable of being welded, and such armor is suitable for stopping projectiles having a velocity of less than 500 meters per second (m/s).
It is also possible to use a two-layer armor plate comprising a front part for ballistic protection, e.g. made of a ceramic, and a rear part for providing structural strength, e.g. made of Kevlar. Such a two-layer plate provides a saving in mass and gives good performance with projectiles at velocities greater than 500 m/s.
An object of the invention is to improve the ballistic performance of such armor, and in particular armor of the above-mentioned type using a two-layer plate.